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BILL TO STRENGTHEN VA SUICIDE PREVENTION
PROGRAMS PASSES SENATE -- Changes in bill
prompt Sen. Tom Coburn to lift his hold.
For more about veterans and suicide, including
information about this legislation, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=suicide&op=and
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CQ TODAY
Bill to Strengthen VA Suicide Prevention Programs Passes Senate
By Patrick Yoest, CQ Staff
Legislation that seeks to address the high rate of suicide among U.S.
veterans moved within a step of final congressional action late Thursday
after a GOP senator lifted his hold on the measure.
The Senate passed its version of the bill (HR 327) by voice vote and
returned the measure to the House for final action.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., had held up passage of the legislation until
its supporters removed a section that called for the Veterans Affairs
Department to conduct “appropriate tracking of veterans.”
Coburn’s staff said that the senator was concerned that the tracking
provision could allow the VA to share health data with other federal
agencies — such as the Justice Department — and that veterans with
mental illness could then be barred from purchasing handguns.
The 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (PL 103-159) requires
states to send to the FBI’s instant criminal background check system the
names of persons barred from possession of handguns, such as convicted
felons and anyone “adjudicated as a mental defective.” But federal
regulations interpreting that phrase explicitly exclude people who
voluntarily seek care in a mental institution.
In another change, a section of the bill that said that the VA “shall
provide for a mental health screening of veterans who receive medical
care at a Department medical facility” was altered to state that the VA
“shall direct that medical staff offer mental health in their overall
health assessment when veterans seek medical care at a Department
medical facility.” Coburn spokesman John Hart said that the change would
effectively create an “opt-out” for veterans who do not want mental
health screening and treatment.
The bill is named after Joshua Omvig, an Iraq War veteran who served in
the Army Reserve and killed himself in December 2005 after an 11-month
deployment. Omvig’s parents have pushed for improved readjustment
procedures for returning servicemembers.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the sponsor of a similar bill (S 479) approved
by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, had tussled with Coburn over
the hold in floor debate earlier this month. He praised passage of the
bill in a statement Friday.
“I am heartened to see that after many months of talking about
preventing suicide among our veterans, Congress finally took action,”
Harkin said.
The House is expected to clear the bill with little opposition. The
original version passed 424-0 on March 21.
The bill would require the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) to provide
training to employees and contractors to make them aware of suicide risk
factors and protocols for crisis intervention with veterans at risk for
suicide. It also would authorize a family outreach program to address
stigmas about mental illness and encourage veterans to seek treatment.
The suicide prevention program authorized in the bill also would require
the placement of suicide prevention counselors at VA medical facilities,
as well as peer support counseling. Another provision would authorize a
24-hour toll-free mental health care hotline — a step that the VA has
already taken.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would have
little or no cost because the “VA already has or soon will implement all
the specific requirements of the bill.”
Source: CQ Today
Round-the-clock coverage of news from Capitol Hill.
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Larry Scott --
